Its been a great summer vacation for me. I’ve spent it being a more-or-less full time podcaster. This summer I recorded over 20 interviews for future podcasts and completed 18 episodes of For the Sake of the Song. I also produced two episodes of the Librivox Community podcast. There is no guest this episode. Just me giving a recap of the summer.

Welcome to the End of Summer Recap edition of For the Sake of the Song

This is Show 23 and I have enjoyed the ongoing conversation with songwriters. Some of my favorites include sitting down with Greg Hobbs and Wendell Ferguson, and meeting people like Nancy Dutra, and John Wort Hannam. Greg Hobbs talking about his song forms.

I’m also finding that mentioning the podcast is a great conversation starter with other musicians. I continue to enjoy exploring the many reasons why and how people write songs. I’m trying to speak with the whole spectrum of songwriters from teenagers with stars in their eyes to hobbyists happy to share their songs at open stages, to the seasoned veterans.

Recap of Festivals: This summer We were able to attend 7 different festivals, and I recorded at most of them

My concept for 4TSOTS is that it is not a series of individual shows but an ongoing conversation– not just with myself and another musician, but with you the audience as well. I have not been good at soliciting feedback but I have received some good feedback, both in the comments on ductapeguy.net and face to face.

Thanks to everyone who has left a comment on my blog especially frequent commenters Russ Clayton and Bill Deys, and Mom and Dad.

Thanks to Ivan Potts and Mary who told me at Mariposa that they enjoyed my show.

First concept Bi-weekly– Then I had enough for weekly. This summer as I got months ahead I wanted to have some flexibility to add shows without bumpin all the scheduled shows, so I’ve posted them on the 10s. I may move them to weekly if I add just one show monthly. I have enough recorded by this schedule to take me into the new year. Then we will revisit.

This is the fourth of five interviews I recorded at the Twisted Pines Music Festival in my hometown of Midland, on the Victoria Day Weekend.

My guest this episode is Magoo. Magoo is a musician of many hats. Literally. He wears them in his children’s shows or when MCing evening concerts at a multitude of festivals. He has produced several children’s albums as half of Kirk and Magoo, and his album Shirt Pay is a wonderful collection of his singer-songwriter material. I got to hang out with him for most of the weekend at Twisted Pines because he was performing at the stage I was managing.

We recorded this outside the arena sitting on a picnic table, with several interruptions. First, the batteries went dead on my recorder, so I lost the first 8 minutes of the interview. Then we were photographed and interviewed for a local paper. Finally, our mutual friends, Carol Teal and David Joyce walked up. Magoo, Carol and Dave are all members of Artscan Circle, a group of musicians who gather donated musical instruments to take to remote northern communities.

My guest this episode is Wendell Ferguson, 6 time Canadian Country Music Association Guitar Player of the Year, Writer of Humorous and Satirical songs, and a heckofa nice guy. We sat down in the green room and traded jokes and songs. Enjoy.

This summer, you can find Wendell at these fine events. More information is available on his website.

July 12 Wendell and his old friend (well she’s not really that old) Judy Von will be playing in Ilderton Ontario at the Pork Producers Picnic (wonder what they’ll be Bar-B-Qing?) Ilderton is just outside of Strathroy and the entertainment goes from 7:00-9:00pm.
July 13, 14 The Canterbury Festival in beautiful Ingersoll. Wendell and his trio ‘The Smokin’ Section’ will be taking part in this lovely festival in the heart of Ingersoll. Contact: www.canterburyfolkfestival.on.ca
July 15 Wendell is playing another private party. No details againJuly 20-22 Wendell is making his first ever appearance at the 4th Annual Canadian Guitar Festival in Odessa (outside of Kingston ON.) This is a weekend dedicated to guitar. In all styles, but mostly finger-style. Organized by Del Vezeau (the largest head in captivity) and hosted by Holmes Hooke (one of the nicest people on earth) it’s sure to be a great weekend. Details at www.canadianguitarfestival.com
July 28 The town of Gore Bay is holding a big celebration with many great acts including Dala, Jeff Wiseman, Angie Nussey, Lily Creek Bluegrass, Nothing Sacred and the gap-tothed wonderboy…Wendell. Details at the town of Gore Bay.
Aug
Aug 3 It’s the Classic Country Music Reunion. (When did Wendell become a ‘classic’?) This is a celebration of many great acts from Canadian Country Music all converging for a whoop-it-up Jam-Bor-Ree weekend in Centennial Park right on the lake in beautiful Trenton, Ontario. Wendell will do a mainstage on Friday evening but mostly he’ll be in the ‘Watering Corral” getting ‘watered’. Details will soon be available at www.ccmr.ca (site is presently under construction)
Aug 17, 18, 19 It’s Summerfolk time in Owen Sound. And Wendell is going to be there. His first appearance there in 3 years. There’s probably some good reason for that. Details will follow.
Aug 25 Wendell is once again backing up the lovely Sylvia Tyson. Details will follow.

Sept
Sept 7-11 Country Music Week is in Regina this year…the city that rhymes with fun. Wendell never misses this one. You shouldn’t either. Lots of great music, showcases and seminars…all culminating in the nationally televised Awards Show. Details at Canadian Country Music Assoc. web site: www.ccma.org

When I set up this blog and podcast last winter, I put alot of thought into a descriptive domain name for “my personal brand” all the good mcgaughey (.com, .net, etc) names were taken, seansongs was taken, etc… I settled on my long time nickname and registered ductapeguy.net.

This has led to some confusion with ducttapeguy.net (2 t’s) and with the guy who does the duct tape marketing podcast. So… today I was googling my name and saw that seanmcgaughey.net was available. I have registered it and redirected it here at ductapeguy.net. I’m hoping that it will help people find me and my podcasts.

This is the second of five episodes I recorded on the Victoria Day long weekend at the Twisted Pines Art and Music Festival in my hometown of Midland, Ontario. This is a double header. First I talk with Paul Northcott and Deb Brown, the principal organizers of the festival, then there’s a session with Nancy Dutra recorded in a long, boomy corridor at the North Simcoe Recreation Centre, where the festival took place. My apologies for the sound quality. I’ve learned my lesson that Arena lobbies are not designed to be recording studios.

Nancy Dutra is a Toronto singer-songwriter who performs at open-stages, folk clubs and festivals throughout Ontario. Her music tends to borrow heavily from old country and gospel music and she has a beautiful voice. She has a demo CD available at her website ( http://nancydutra.com or www.myspace.com/nancydutramusic) and she is currently working on her debut CD. She was accompanied by John Wort Hannam.